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'We went out and spoke to the members of the public there. Most of them are sensible and stand well back to take their pictures but there are one or two who get too close and this is when the deer gets disturbed.

'These programmes have their place. It is good that people learn about nature. But they do have knock- on effects, especially in a place like the New Forest.

'People watch those programmes and want to go out and see it for themselves and they don't realise the pressure they are putting on these animals.'

Ian Young, a Forestry Commission keeper, said: 'We had one stag which walked all the way here from Bournemouth and as soon as he got here he was surrounded by 29 people with cameras.

'One stag arrived the other week. The next day we had 50 or 60 people here. They came from Bristol, Devon and Cornwall after they read about him on a website.'

The annual rut has now finished and Miss Burke said that despite the distractions, the deer were still able to breed.

Autumnwatch presenter Chris Packham, who lives in the New Forest, said the programme had nothing to apologise for.

He added: 'If the New Forest has been overrun by visitors in order to photograph the deer, why not be constructive?

'Why not offer classes to would-be photographers, showing them how to do it properly and bring business into the local area?

'I don't feel guilty about encouraging people to visit places in the New Forest but we on Autumnwatch should be doing our best to instruct people how best to do it without disturbing the animals.'